The connection is “steps”, still in a brutalist place although here there is marble instead of concrete.  This scene is from the European Parliament building in Brussels and was captured (on slide film) in June 2007, so there may well now be more languages represented on the plaques on the left of the picture.

I found it interesting that the number of plaques (not all shown) represent each main/administrative language of the member states, but there is just one signpost for the nearby information point “info”.  The word “info” has probably achieved the status of being universally recognisable, although the person charged with erecting the sign for the information point could have just been thinking from a local perspective.

Like the word “info”, the words “European” and “parliament” are fairly universal so the number of plaques used could be superfluous, although it’s an interesting alternative to using flags to represent national membership of the European union.  Using languages to represent membership of the union might not however be the best method because some of the many that are spoken have been omitted from the plaque-based list (eg Chinese).  Perhaps language is a proxy for representing the free passage between member states that European residents from various cultures/identities have.  Therefore, displaying a map of member states with boundaries between them instead might send out the wrong message of what the union is meant to be about.  Use of flags however could be the best compromise in terms of showing the diversity of membership, despite the issues surrounding the use of flags as discussed so well in the song by Rush called “Territories“.

The picture, for some people, might be a good way of showing how matters associated with the European union are apparently over-complicated when simplicity is possible.  Maybe however the scene is an embodiment of what the European Parliament is trying to achieve…literally right on its doorstep, ie embracing diversity and resolving differences.

As for other universal signs, here’s an example of a bird noting the direction of an emergency exit, should the need arise.